Father, son on course to make history

Page Tools

Steve Richards, in his Commodore, after taking his first Mount Panorama pole in a dramatic top-10 shootout yesterday.Photo: Mark Horsburgh

Holden star Steve Richards has set himself up for a fairytale Bathurst victory alongside his legendary motor racing father Jim today after snatching his first Mount Panorama pole by a 1000th-of-a-second margin in a dramatic top-10 shootout yesterday.

Richards jnr, driving the Castrol Perkins Commodore prepared by another Bathurst legend, six-time winner Larry Perkins, took first place in the one-lap dash by the narrowest of margins from another hard-charging Holden driver, PWR Racing's Jason Bright.

Third-quickest was Richards' 22-year-old teammate Paul Dumbrell, who clearly showed the benefits of a mid-season trip to Britain for a refresher course at a race driving school.

And completing a Holden clean sweep of the first two rows of the grid was last year's record-breaking Bathurst hero Greg Murphy, who looked on course for another pole position midway through the one-lap dash in his Kmart Racing Commodore, only to falter in the final stage of the 6.2-kilometre circuit.

Ford's defending V8 champion Marcos Ambrose - looking for his first Bathurst win in the Stone Brothers Racing Pirtek Falcon - was the first Ford home in fifth position. He will be joined on the third row of the grid by another Falcon, the Ozemail Racing car of the John Bowe/Brad Jones combination. For Ambrose, it was at least something to celebrate, as he had a crash on Thursday and only sneaked into the shootout by finishing 10th in qualifying. He and co-driver Greg Ritter, successful together in the Sandown 500, still will be one of the combinations to beat today.

But yesterday was all about the fast family Richards. Father Jim is now 57, but age has not wearied him nor the years diminished his race pace. Successful two years ago in the Holden Racing Team Commodore alongside Mark Skaife, Richards snr has accumulated seven Bathurst wins, putting him only two behind Australian motor sport icon Peter Brock.

While the 59-year-old Brock, in his farewell appearance in the second HRT Commodore will start today from 26th place on the grid, his long-time rival, courtesy of his son's blistering lap, has every chance of taking the chequered flag in what would be a unique winning combination. Although Richards jnr will be expected to do the most laps today, his father can be relied upon to put in a solid stint: while many men his age have settled for retirement, Richards snr has been tuning up for today's race by spending the season defending the Porsche Carerra Cup championship he won last year.

Steve Richards - who has won the great race twice, with Bright in 1998 and Murphy a year later - has long been known as Mr Consistency or "the Great Accumulator" for his ability to consistently run at the front of the V8 field and collect championship points without winning too often.

While he has yet to win a round this season, he is still right in the championship battle, lying a close third behind Bright and Ambrose. But he seems to have added an extra touch of speed during 2004, yesterday's pole position being the second he has achieved this year.

It hardly could have been by a narrower margin. He confessed afterwards that not even his pit crew was sure whether he or Bright had taken pole position after the latter flashed over the line in the shootout, having been the next driver on track after Richards.